Base 3 Better

The most beautiful application of base 3 is a specific variant known as . Instead of using the digits 0, 1, and 2, balanced ternary uses -1, 0, and +1. For simplicity, these are often written as -, 0, and + (or sometimes T, 0, and 1).

In practical terms, a ternary computer would be more efficient than a binary computer in terms of component density. A hypothetical "trit" (ternary digit) carries more information than a bit; specifically, one trit contains roughly 1.58 bits of information. base 3

Modern researchers are looking into "multi-valued logic." If a single memory cell can hold three states instead of two, information density increases significantly. The most beautiful application of base 3 is

The base-3 number ( 210_3 ) means: [ 2 \times 3^2 + 1 \times 3^1 + 0 \times 3^0 = 2 \times 9 + 1 \times 3 + 0 = 18 + 3 = 21_10 ] In practical terms, a ternary computer would be

Borrow 1 from left = 3 in current column.

Check: ( 2 \times 9 + 2 \times 3 + 1 = 18 + 6 + 1 = 25 ).